True vs Shadowz
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
True
This app offers a private social networking experience focused on genuine connections with trusted individuals. It prioritizes user privacy by avoiding targeted advertising and data selling, creating a safe and positive space for sharing.
- Private by default sharing
- No ads or tracking
- User data ownership
- Focus on real friends
- Safe and positive environment
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Focused on people you really know, we’re making social a safe, happy place again without targeted advertising. • It’s the quality of relationships, not quantity, that make us happier. We’re building new ways to tell your story and strengthen your community • We don’t spy on you, read your cookies or follow you around the internet. You own your data, forever, and we’ll never sell or share it with anyone It’s time to try an honest solution. We’re thrilled to get you back to things that matter. • Private by default – photos, and updates only with people you trust. • No ads. No tracking. Ever. – we never sell your data. • Real friends, real life – original content from people you actually know, not influencers or brands. • Safe and positive – a drama-free space designed to make social a happy place again. The True Story True was founded in a lovely little mountain town filled with giant redwoods, beautiful valleys and neighbors who look after each other. It’s this real-life Happy Valley that inspired us to build a company that gets back to things that matter. Real friends and real life without commercial interruption. It’s the quality of our relationships, not the quantity, that make us happier. It’s the joy of making new friends and connecting with old ones that strengthen our sense of community. Somehow, in a rush for growth and profit, these feelings have been lost. Social today no longer feels like a Happy Valley, it’s more like we’re all living in a big creepy commercial. Big social companies are in the middle of our relationships. They’re taking our best intentions and selling them to the highest bidder. Well, we’re just not going to do that anymore. Why Should I Trust You Guys? There’s a lot of talk about privacy. Every few weeks, another big company gets caught in a new scandal. But there is never anything really done about it and we go on accepting the problem. The crazy thing is, this is never going to stop. As long as these companies make money by selling our personal information, they will always find ways to collect it. But we never signed up for this. We didn’t post our lives, families and personal relationships for sale. We did not agree to let these companies make money from being in the middle of our friendships. We believe you should be free to share your life without big brands competing for your attention. You should own your information and decide what you want to do with it. 3rd parties should never have access to your data. You should not be the product. We believe your privacy matters. We take it into consideration with every decision we make. You should believe we respect your privacy and trust we’ll do the right thing with your information. What’s Different About It? We just don’t think you can be yourself in a world of perfect pictures awash in a sea of influencers. Old-school social is for blasting your life to people you don’t really know, measured by standards you will never achieve. So we’ve built a new kind of threaded sharing that is private by default. Until now, no one has tried this before. It gives you control over things you want to share and who you want to share them with. By combining beautiful, edge-to-edge storytelling with private messaging, it’s the best of both worlds. What do we all love? Updates from real friends. But original thoughts and stories have gone missing in big social. Sadly, most content today is created by companies with an agenda. We share an endless stream of news and ideas pushed by these companies and no longer share our real lives. So we built a platform that only allows original content. There are no political arguments here. You come to True to see real updates from friends. Content they created themselves, not clickbait designed to hold your attention and manipulate opinion. True lets you… be you. Real sharing from real friends, we’re making social a safe, happy place again.
Shadowz
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Shadowz allows you to create and share your photos, stories, reels and videos with the friends and followers you care about. Connect with friends, share what you're up to, or see what's new from others all over the world. Explore our community where you can feel free to be yourself and share everything from your daily moments to life's highlights. shadowz reels bring you a new way to create and discover entertaining short videos. You can watch, like, comment, and share reels videos in a dedicated space in the Reels tab. * Watch & create short clips up to 30 seconds long with shadowz Reels. Add special effects, background music, filters and emojis to bring your reels and stories to life Upload your creative video clips and reels to expand your audience Enjoy millions of entertaining, funny, and informative videos and reels Watch & share any shadowz Reels video with your friends Stories allow you to easily share moments or posts from your day with text, music, and emoji to bring your Stories to life Share memes privately with your friends and have conversations * Message your friends in Direct Start fun conversations with one or more friends about what you see on Feed, Stories, and Shadowz Reels. Video chat to connect no matter where you are Learn about what's trending from your favorite accounts and share them to friends Send messages to your friends, share posts privately, and receive chat notifications * Post photos, reels and videos to your Shadowz Feed Upload photos and videos directly from your phone library Share content with your followers instantly Post photos and videos to your feed that you want to show on your profile Post short videos, reels or photo updates from moments in your life Receive notifications when someone likes or comments on your post * Search & Explore to Learn More About Your Interests * Follow your favorite bands, celebrities, actors, athletes, and singers for live updates * Watch skits, movie scenes, news updates, music performances, sports highlights, and more from your favorite pages * Discover brands and connect with local small businesses * The introduction of chatrooms (friend groups) on shadowz would provide users with a dedicated space to connect and engage with specific sets of friends or communities. It would enable users to create private or public chatrooms where they can have discussions, share updates, and exchange ideas on various topics of interest. Whether it's a group of close friends, colleagues, or people with similar hobbies, chatrooms would foster deeper connections and facilitate more focused conversations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Shadowz at weekly against True's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
True ships an update every 3 weeks, Shadowz weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | True | Shadowz |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (9 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 85.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 102 MB | 199 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hello Mobile Inc. | SHADOWZ APP |
Bugs and requests
True
Reported bugs
17 issues- Posts revert to older dates
- Cannot read email for verification
- Cannot view or open notifications (likes, comments, friend requests)
- Cannot get verification code by email
- App crashes or freezes
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- Cannot access other albums
- Camera roll is a mess
- Cannot use own GIFs
- Confirming account is a nightmare
- Cannot confirm phone number
- Cannot set password
- Phone seizes up when writing reviews
- Location history not fully captured
- No response from support
- Cannot upload own GIFs (no animation)
- Spam notifications from 'Alex'
- App keeps showing error messages
Requested features
7 requests- Allow editing of posted text
- Allow pictures and videos as comments
- Provide a way to download photos
- Dark mode
- Evernote integration or export options
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- Add missed location logs
- Improve contact access
Shadowz
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
True
No in-app purchases
Shadowz
No in-app purchases









